pink slime in tank?

[GumbyCT]

IF you use distilled water and your chamber remains clean with just a periodic dumping then keep your procedure to yourself because no one here will believe you.

And you're "in deep denial."

So how much do I owe you ?

For making my point?

because no one here will believe you.

You are priceless

[LoQ]

because no one here will believe you.

No, not true at all! You have plenty of company in your camp! The people who know a little about microbiology are in a very slim minority.

[HoseCrusher]

I don't like the idea of having "slime" in my humidifier tank, so I take these precautions.

I put distilled water, when I can find it, in a 1 liter bottle. I add 1 piece of aquarium salt and 1 tablespoon of 10 PPM colloidal silver.

Distilled water is a very aggressive solvent. By adding a very small amount of salt, that is tamed down a lot. The small amount of salt is not enough to coat the inside of the tank.

The colloidal silver ends up at a concentration that is a little under 0.015 PPM. This is enough to take care of "contamination" with spores and bacteria.

When traveling in remote areas I have found that there are times when distilled water is not available. In those cases I use bottled drinking water and up the colloidal silver to 2 tablespoons per liter of water. When using bottled drinking water, I leave the salt out.

[Freshness]

Hi Everyone. I am new to this forum and i just want to thank you thank you thank you all for your great posts. They have been so helpful. I got redness in my left eye last Friday that i just knew was not the contagious "pink eye" conjunctivitus(because that happened 2 times before this year and this summer''s bout deteriorated into cellulits of the eyelid according to the opthalmalogist) and i just have had a suspicion that it was caused by my CPAP. The summer bout both the Opthlamalogist and my Primary Care doc discounted, and threw out any possibility that my CPAP could cause my red eyes that also hurt... I was told that i probably just got somehting in my eye, be careful, take these antibiotics- and be on your way. I KNOW that i was waking up at night recently with the mask out of position and air (at a 19 setting!) blowing in my eye. I just knew that HAD to matter, so i went on an anti-leakage, mask adjustment mission and was fine from late August until Saturday past when I woke up in the morning with "pink eye"- again!

I noticed the pink crud in my humidifier tank about 3 weeks ago, but didn't think much of it- and just washed it out as best i could on my weekly cleaning and just kept topping off every night with whatever water was handy...OMG!! the Serratia Marcescens!!!OMG!!! I jumped back from the computer like it was on my keyboard! lol! i immediately went into commando mode. Bust into the bedroom armed with disposable rubber gloves and Clorox Clean-up and sprayed down, cleaned the nighstand, the headboard,the lamp, cords, floor-everything. I had been sent a new tank, hose and mask 2 months ago that i never took out the box (i didn't request them- didn't think anythingwas wrong with the old ones...)- so i changed out everything and cleaned the CPAP machine thoroughly with hydrogen peroxide. I drove to the store to buy 3 gallons of distilled water, some vinegar and more hydrogen peroxide. I am reformed!! Thank You All So Much!!!

[nobody]

hmmmm I noticed I had this pink slime in my tank a few days ago. I don't know how long it's been in there. I just change the water out every few days and don't wash the thing or anything. I was kind grossed out by that and tried to just sleep without any humidifier at all, but my mouth and throat became so dry I couldn't sleep. Well I haven't done much about it, just cleaned it out with a cotton tip swab, rinsed and filled it up. I've been dumping the water out daily and letting it dry out during the day since then. I wonder if I should do more? I dunno. Maybe this is why I've been having asthma attacks at night lately, not good, but I am just so lazy and apathetic.

CAN I PUT THE TANK IN THE DISHWASHER???

[Robespierre]

The M series humidifier tank can be put in the dishwasher (top shelf), which does very well at getting rid of the pink slime. After finding some pink slime in my humidifier tank once, I now swish the tank around in hot water with Palmolive clear dishwashing detergent once a week to keep it clean. I use only tap water, which is quite good here, coming from Lake Michigan.

[tattooyu]

I've been slimed!

I have fallen victim to the pink slime, although it was very hard to detect. A very thin layer in the corners of my ResMed H4i tank. This was with regular cleaning and occasional disinfecting with the dentutabs. Needless to say, I think that MAY have been the cause of some sinus infections and URIs, but I also have a 9 month old son, so...

I just got my new H4i from my DME, and I like the new cover seal and spillguard. This time I will be more diligent with daily cleanings and disinfecting with a vinegar/hydrogen peroxide mixture.

Yikes!